It was a full-circle moment for Flau’jae Johnson on Thursday night. It seemed like it was yesterday when she was a freshman contributing to LSU’s first-ever women’s basketball national championship.
Now, four years later, she’s the veteran leading the way for her team.
“When I think of LSU and all the tremendous athletes that have played all the sports here, her name is going to be right up there with them,” head coach Kim Mulkey said. “Not just because of her basketball talent and her rapping. She’s all over this campus. She’s all over this community. She’s very generous and shares her wealth.”
Emotions were mixed as gold t-shirts were plastered all over the PMAC with Johnson, Amyia Joyner and Izzy Besselman’s names on them as one final regular-season farewell on their senior night.
The Tigers gave their seniors a proper send-off by defeating Tennessee 89-73.
After falling behind 24-18 in the second quarter, LSU was able to bounce back to regain the lead before halftime at 43-42.
MiLaysia Fulwiley came into the game and got to work right away, scoring 11 points and recording three blocks on the defensive end.
However, turnovers were a problem for Fulwiley and her teammates, as the Tigers finished the first half with seven turnovers, three of which came from Fulwiley.
The Volunteers ramped up the intensity by pressing LSU and capitalizing on its mistakes, scoring eight points off turnovers. However, what really kept Tennessee in the game was its 3-point shooting and second-chance opportunities.
Despite having nine turnovers in the first half, the Volunteers shot 6-for-15 (40%) from beyond the arc. And when they did miss, they battled on the boards, hauling in 11 offensive rebounds and scoring 14 second-chance points.
Only up one heading into halftime, adjustments needed to be made. LSU held the Volunteers to only 17 points while shooting 6-for-16 (37.5%). The Tigers outrebounded Tennessee, limiting them to only three offensive rebounds while also taking care of the basketball.
The gameplan on offense was to run through Mikaylah Williams. She was doing everything on the offensive end, attacking the basket, knocking down mid-range jumpers and finding her teammates.
“I thought Mikaylah played strong,” Mulkey said. “When we went small, I moved Mikaylah inside with [ZaKiyah Johnson] some and with Grace some, and I just felt like she played extremely strong, both on the perimeter and she was taking it in there hard. We all know Mikaylah is one of the best jump shooting mid-range players in the country, but she mixed up what she was doing offensively.”
On a night that was meant for the seniors, it was Williams, Fulwiley and ZaKiyah Johnson who stepped up and stole the show.
Williams finished with a team-high 20 points, to go along with her 10 rebounds and five assists. Fulwiley ended the game with 18 points, six rebounds, four blocks and two steals to keep the momentum going from her past two games. Johnson dominated the paint, scoring 14 points and snatching eight rebounds.
Five different Tigers finished in double-digits after a dominant second-half performance, including 13 points from Grace Knox and 10 from Flau’jae Johnson.
Tennessee’s shooting barrage slowed down in the second half and eventually ran out of gas against the suffocating defense from LSU, only scoring 31 points on 11-for-33 (33.3%) shooting.
When the final buzzer sounded, and as Johnson, Joyner and Besselman watched the tribute video on the Jumbotron, it started to settle in that this was their final regular-season game.
“We watched a lot of those in our time here for other people, so for it being us, it was pretty cool,” Johnson said. “I’m beyond thankful to be able to have worn this jersey and play under Coach Mulkey.”
